The manufacture of vehicles, where this component is used, e.g., to fasten a vibration damper to a carrier part of a vehicle, is a preferred field of use of such rubber mounts. The carrier part may be designed as a wheel carrier or as a rear axle transverse swinging arm. However, the use of the rubber mount according to the present invention is not limited to the area of vehicle manufacture. Thus, the vibration-damped rubber mount may also be used, e.g., in the manufacture of machine tools, transportation equipment or other technical areas.
Manufacturing a vibration-damped rubber mount from a cylindrical outer sleeve made of steel, into which a likewise cylindrically shaped elastomer ring body is inserted, into which a likewise cylindrical inner part made of steel is in turn inserted, belongs to the general state of the art. This rubber mount receives its vibration-damping property from the elastomer ring body, which consists mostly of ordinary rubber. The vibration-damped rubber mount is arranged between a first carrier part via the outer sleeve of this carrier part, which said outer sleeve may also be made in one piece with the first carrier part, and a second carrier part, which is fastened to the inner part. As a result, a vibration-damped mounting of the first carrier part in relation to the second carrier part is achieved.
Even though this rubber mount can be manufactured and mounted in a simple manner due to the nested design of its individual parts, special measures are nevertheless necessary to prevent a relative axial movement of the carrier parts to prevent the rubber mount from falling apart.
It is also generally known that the individual components can be firmly connected to one another. This connection is brought about by vulcanizing the elastomer ring body to the outer sleeve as well as to the inner part. However, a rubber mount of such a design has the drawback that opposite areas that are subject to extreme tensile and compressive loads will develop in the elastomer ring body due to an angular offset of the first carrier part in relation to the second carrier part. Cracking will develop in the elastomer ring body in the extreme case especially in the areas subject to tensile load, because the material of the elastomer ring body is not suitable for a tensile load. The same drawback also occurs in the case of an extreme axial load on such a rubber mount of a one-piece design.
DE 100 11 124 A1 shows a rubber mount in which the drawbacks described above are avoided by the inner part being provided with an spherical part formed integrally in one piece radially on the outside to form a ball-and-socket joint. This part formed integrally in one piece cooperates with an outer sleeve of a corresponding design. An elastomer ring body with permanent wall thickness, which body comes slidingly into contact with the integral spherical one-piece part of the inner part, is arranged between the outer sleeve and the inner part. It is possible due to such a design to considerably increase the service life of the vibration-damped rubber mount compared with rubber mounts in which the elastomer ring body is arranged adhesively between the inner part and the outer sleeve. In conjunction with the sliding contact of the inner part of the elastomer ring body, the elastomer ring body is loaded exclusively for compression due to the ball-and-socket-like design. This is true in case of both axial load and radial load on the rubber mount and in case of an angular offset between the inner part and the outer sleeve, i.e., in case of cardanic load. One drawback of this vibration-damped rubber mount is, however, the fact that the increase in the rigidity of the spring in the direction of the load is limited by the structural design of the vibration-damped rubber mount. The rigidity of the spring can be achieved by the use of a harder rubber material, by reducing the wall thickness of the elastomer ring body or by widening the rubber mount. However, the sliding friction to be overcome between the inner part and the elastomer ring body also increases herewith at the same time.